Prosecutors yesterday charged a 17-year-old boy with participating in a series of violent robberies on the L system last year, including one in which a victim was stabbed at the Roosevelt Red Line.
Two adults were also charged with some of the crimes in December.
The juvenile is charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery of a victim over the age of 60, two counts of armed robbery, robbery, and attempted armed robbery. Those are all felonies.
Two of the robberies took place on December 23. The first robbery unfolded on a southbound Red Line train as it traveled through the Loop around 6:08 a.m.
A 49-year-old man told police that he was seated on the train when three men wearing face masks surrounded him and told him to surrender his belongings, according to prosecutors.
One of the offenders held the victim down while the other two went through his pockets and took his wallet and phone. The victim suffered two stab wounds during a struggle with the offenders.
Prosecutors said he tried to hold the train doors open to keep it from leaving the station with the men on board. But the offenders reportedly dragged the man across the platform and fled to the elevated Orange Line tracks.
While police were speaking with the victim, another CTA passenger reported that three masked men robbed him on an Orange Line train near Halsted. The second victim said an offender asked for money, and a second robber took his phone and removed items from his backpack.
After the robbery, the victim stood up on the train and approached the men to ask for his property back. He backed off when one of the offenders turned around and came toward the victim with a knife, prosecutors said.
Police used CTA surveillance camera feeds to locate three suspects at the Western Orange Line station who matched the descriptions provided by both victims. All three suspects ran when patrol cars arrived at the station.
Officers caught Tyree Walker, 26, and Donta Thomas, 23, but the third person — allegedly the juvenile who was charged Wednesday — got away.
Walker and Thomas were charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery during a court hearing on Christmas Eve. They both remained jailed without bail.
While Walker and Thomas were locked up, the juvenile allegedly returned to the Loop on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve and robbed a 61-year-old woman on the Red Line at Jackson, according to police.
He is also charged with robbing a 54-year-old man at the 79th Street Red Line station around 6:10 a.m. on July 20, according to CPD. Police records show a second robbery was reported at the same station within four minutes of that crime, but no charges have been filed in that case.
No additional information is available about the 17-year-old because he is a juvenile.
